Reviewed by: Is Russia Fascist? Unravelling Propaganda East and West by Marlene Laruelle Sarah Gear Is Russia Fascist? Unravelling Propaganda East and West. By Marlene Laruelle. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 2021. vii+251 pp. $39.95; £32. ISBN 978–1–50175–413–5. In Is Russia Fascist?, Marlene Laruelle explores a dichotomy central to the identity of contemporary Russia. Although Russia is regularly accused of fascism by politicians in the West, the country perceives itself as actively anti-fascist. Meanwhile, Russia directs its own charges of fascism towards Europe and the United States. In this carefully constructed study Laruelle critiques populist trends, refuting such accusations against Russia. She contends that the West's indictments of fascism disenfranchise Russia on the world stage, while Russia's counter-accusations allow it to claim moral superiority over the West. For Laruelle, accusations of fascism are a 'discursive struggle' (p. 8) deployed by both Russia and the West in order to define themselves. This interplay between differing ethnocentric perspectives is at the core of Laruelle's work as she contextualizes attitudes towards fascism in both the Soviet and post-Soviet worlds, while exploring the Kremlin's tolerance of conflicting ideologies. After considering the main elements of fascism, the first four chapters describe its status in Russia, investigating the association between fascism and Nazism, and the paradoxical Soviet fascination with Nazi culture. Laruelle demonstrates the two cultures' parallel interest in neo-classical aesthetics and physical perfection and discusses how television programmes such as the hugely popular Seventeen Moments of Spring, with its spy hero Max Otto von Stierlitz, tapped into this interest. Laruelle describes anti-fascism as modern Russia's 'foundational myth' [End Page 528] (p. 43), demonstrated by its role in defeating the Nazi regime in the Great Patriotic War. This victory is promoted by Vladimir Putin's government as contemporary Russia's defining moment because it is one of the few instances of the 'usable past' (p. 49) that the population almost unanimously supports. The indisputable anti-fascist status of post-1940s Russia and the Soviet states is emphasized in schools, where textbooks reaffirm Putin's position, creating a society ill-equipped for open debate. Conflicting views held by Russia and the former Soviet states regarding the Soviet Union's role in the Second World War have provoked the current so-called 'memory wars' in Eastern Europe. These have in turn caused Russia to launch accusations of fascism against Ukraine and the Baltic States in response to anti-Soviet sentiment. From Chapter 5 onwards, Laruelle weighs the competing ideologies permitted by the Kremlin, including those of prominent right-wing political figures such as Alexandr Dugin. She also considers Putin's own support for right-wing groups and discusses how this can be reconciled with Russia's anti-fascist self-image. Laruelle suggests this ideological fluidity is driven by the government's desire to control the population: this approach is improvised primarily to prevent a return to the economic and political chaos of the 1990s. Laruelle concludes that Russia is neither fascist nor totalitarian, but rather illiberal. She argues that fascism is not a useful framework for analysing Russia, suggesting instead that any future studies should examine the prevalence of 'hybrid regimes, paternalism and illiberalism' (p. 155). Her penultimate chapter draws a convincing parallel between Putin and Charles de Gaulle, which provides a helpful counterpoint to the more politically charged comparisons between the Russian president and Hitler or Stalin. She concedes, however, that some elements of fascism are present in Russia, evident in the macho 'militia subculture' (p. 138). Indeed, the prominent position of politician, writer, and former National Bolshevik Zakhar Prilepin is testament to the enduring power of macho, bordering on fascist, ideology. But as this nuanced investigation demonstrates, to label Putin's regime as fascist is to obfuscate the political situation in contemporary Russia. Is Russia Fascist? provides a clear, balanced assessment of contemporary Russian politics, serving not only as a sensible dissection of the status of fascism in Russia, but also as a guide to that country's problematic political structures. Laruelle's thorough contextualization of Russian beliefs about fascism, the Second World War, and attitudes towards the...